Cheviot Value Management LLC Acquires 10,750 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cheviot Value Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,006 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,750 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 2.3% of Cheviot Value Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Cheviot Value Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company's stock worth $2,408,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550,824 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $2.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $82.83. 28,374,477 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,908,288. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company's 50-day moving average price is $87.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.93 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 48.14%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.